Connemara

Travel Guide

Connemara

Active Pursuits in Connemara

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Bicycling

Bicycles can be rented year-round from Mannion Cycles, Bridge Street, Clifden, County Galway (095/21160). The rate for a regular touring bike in high season starts at around €10 per day. Touring bikes can also be hired from May through October at the Little Killary Adventure Company, Leenane, County Galway (095/43411; www.killary.com). They go for €18 per day.

Diving

You can rent equipment and receive instruction at Scubadive West, Renvyle, County Galway (095/43922; www.scubadivewest.com).

Fishing

Lough Corrib is renowned for brown trout and salmon fishing. Brown trout fishing is usually good from the middle of February, and salmon is best from the end of May. For salmon and sea trout, the BallynahinchCastle Hotel at Ballynahinch, Recess (www.ballynahinch-castle.com; 095/31006), is an angler’s paradise. Fishing licenses, tackle, maps, and advice are available at the hotel. At Portarra Lodge, Tullykyne, Moycullen (www.portarralodge.com; 091/555-051), fishing packages include B&B accommodations in a modern guesthouse on the shores of Lough Corrib, dinners, and boats and tackle. Owner Michael Canney is an avid angler and a great guide to this part of Galway. Weekly packages that include half-board, boat, and ghillie (guide) are available.

Golf

Visitors are welcome at the 18-hole, par-72 championship seaside course of the Connemara Golf Club, Ballyconneely, Clifden, County Galway (095/23502; www.connemaragolflinks.com), nestled in the heart of Connemara and overlooking the Atlantic. Greens fees from May to September are €65 weekdays, €75 weekends; from October to April, they're €50 weekdays, €60 weekends.

See the beaches of Connemara from horseback on a trek with the Cleggan Beach Riding Centre, Clegan, County Galway (095/44746; www.clegganridingcentre.com). The center offers beach and mountain treks, and the most popular is a 3-hour ride to Omey Island at low tide. Prices start at around €50. Or explore with Connemara and Coast Trails, Loughrea, County Galway (091/841216; www.connemara-trails.com). Rides are for experienced and beginning riders alike. Riding starts at around €20 per person per hour.

Walking

Connemara National Park ★★★ has excellent walking trails, some of which lead up the sides of the Twelve Bens. You can get maps at the park’s visitor center. From the town of Leenane (Leenaun), there’s an exhilarating 4km walk to the picturesque Aasleagh Waterfall (Eas Liath) northeast of the Killary Fiord harbor. A 2- to 3-hour walk around the fiord follows the Green Road, a sheep track that was once the primary route from the Renvyle Peninsula to Leenane; along the way you’ll even pass a ghost town (a village abandoned after the Famine), where the fields rise at a devilishly steep slope from ruined cottages clustered at the water’s edge.

Watersports & Adventure Sports

One-stop shopping for outdoorsy activities—kayaking, water-skiing, hill and coastal walking, rock climbing, archery, you name it—can be found at the Killary Adventure Company in Leenane (www.killary.com; 095/43411). Rates start at around €30 per session. The Delphi Adventure Resort in Leenane (www.delphiadventureresort.com; 095/42208) offers courses in kayaking, windsurfing, and raft building, as well as mountaineering, abseiling, hiking, and archery. Everything is reasonably priced, and the atmosphere is laid-back and friendly.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.